chocolate-zucchini cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was growing up, my favourite cake was chocolate-zucchini cake.

No matter that I turned up my nose at the zucchini fresh out of the garden that turned up on my dinner plate. 

In fact, I was just saving my zucchini appetite for dessert.

My mom made this cake every year when we were inundated by giant zucchinis that just wouldn't stop growing.

And every time I ate it, I thought to myself: this is much better than a regular chocolate cake.

I have missed it for the past 14 years, as I've been baking gluten-free for my favourite Celiac husband. 

But I'm now happy to say that I've cracked the gluten-free chocolate-zucchini cake code!

So, of course I wanted to share it with you — whether you need a gluten-free version or not.

  

 

 

 

 

one year ago: mary berry's oat rounds

two years ago: german sunken plum cake

three years ago: oat-date slice

 

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chocolate-zucchini cake

Note: This is half the size of my mom's original cake. If you make it with wheat flour, you could easily double the recipe and bake it in a 10-inch tube, 13 x 9-inch pan, or bundt pan.

90 g. (6 tbsp.) butter, softened
200 g. (1 c.) sugar
1 1/2 large eggs (or 2 medium)
1 tsp. vanilla
156 g. (1 1/4 c.) wheat flour 
   or gluten-free:
   62 g. millet flour
   46 g. potato starch
   46 g. sweet rice flour
   1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. milk
1 c. zucchini, grated
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Butter an 8-inch round pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Mix in vanilla. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. 

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture. Stir in zucchini, chocolate chips, and nuts at the end. Scrape into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. The cake is done when a tester comes out clean and it just starts to pull away from the edges of the pan.

 

gluten-free sandwich bread

Hot out of the oven

This one's for the Celiacs who have resigned themselves to paying seven dollars for a very small loaf of almost-edible bread at the grocery store. This is better.

I have made this recipe five times now. Aside from the time when I forgot the xanthan gum – which is key – they have all turned into the most amazing loaves of gluten-free bread.

Happily rising

The Celiac husband has declared it his favourite and keeps asking when I'm making more.

Cooling

My cousin Shannon, also a Celiac, had a slice for breakfast and right away asked me where I bought it. I took that as a real compliment because gluten-free bakers know how hard it is to make a really good gluten-free bread at home.

Scott also reports that this makes a fine sandwich bread in his lunch. This may not be news to the rest of the world, but the Celiacs know very few gluten-free breads are edible unless they're toasted.

Sliced and ready for living the good life in the freezer

A big thanks to the always-reliable Canadian Living for the original recipe. I tinkered with the flours to add millet and oat flour in place of some of the brown rice flour – I think this gives it a nicer texture and stays away from the sandiness of too much brown rice flour. I also like slipping more whole grains in wherever I can.

Celiacs, enjoy!

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gluten-free sandwich bread
adapted from canadian living
bakes 2 loaves

250 g. (2 c.) tapioca starch
125 g. (1 c.) brown rice flour
63 g. (1/2 c. + 2 tbsp. + 2 tsp.) gluten-free oat flour*
63 g. (1/2 c. + 1 tbsp.) millet flour
270 g. (1 1/2 c.) potato starch
38 g. (6 tbsp.) ground flax meal
4 tsp. quick-rising (instant) dry yeast
4 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
672 g. (2 2/3 c.) milk, warmed
4 eggs (224 g.)
37 g. (2 tbsp.) liquid honey
16 g. (4 tsp.) olive oil
2 tsp. cider vinegar

Grease two non-stick loaf pans with a neutral-tasting oil. Set aside.

Get out a large bowl. Whisk together the tapioca starch, brown rice flour, oat flour, millet flour, potato starch, ground flax meal, yeast, xanthan gum and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, honey, olive oil and cider vinegar. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid. Mix well.

Pour the batter into the waiting loaf pans and smooth the tops a bit. Let rise in a draft-free place for about an hour, until the tops have risen just above the loaf pans. I like to put the pans in the microwave with a mug of just-boiled water to steam it up. If you leave them on the counter, make sure you cover them with lightly-greased plastic wrap so they aren't susceptible to drafts.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celcius) and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes. When they're done, the tops will be golden brown and a cake tester will come out clean. If you have a thermometer, the inside of the bread will measure 205 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let cool a bit, then transfer to racks to fully cool. Slice and eat. If you will be keeping it longer than 24 hours, slice, double-bag and freeze. Toast slices as you need them.


* I just whirl my gluten-free oats in the food processor until they're fairly fine and use that as oat flour. 
 

peanut sesame noodles

This is the kind of food that satisfies all my cravings, and doesn't even have a speck of butter or cheese. What it does have is peanut butter, which seems to make everything – sweet or savoury – much better.

Deb with Smitten Kitchen calls this "Single Girl's Dinner." I could imagine it would be good eaten alone, since it tastes much like take out (but about a zillion times better). But I can't call it that because Scott likes it just as much as I do.

That's a good thing, because we served it for his birthday last year and it was great party food that stretched and stretched (along with some Mexican meatballs in tomato-chipotle sauce) for seconds and thirds and even leftovers.

The peanut dressing alone, with ginger and soy and rice vinegar and honey, is the kind of thing where you feel compelled to either lick the mixing bowl or get out a spatula to get every last drop.

And that's before you've mixed it with stretchy buckwheat soba noodles, peppers, carrots and sesame baked tofu . . . and showered sesame seeds on top.

It all comes together into the most pleasing peanut butter noodle dish. I could eat it again right now.

one year ago: brigadeiros
two years ago: night circus mice
three years ago: lemon gumdrops
four years ago: up island
five years ago: sophisticated marshmallow squares and a soup among friends

peanut sesame noodles
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
serves 4

peanut dressing
1/2 c. smooth peanut butter
1/4 c. soy sauce*
1/3 c. warm water
1 tbsp. fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. Asian toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. Korean red pepper flakes or a splash of your favourite hot sauce

noodles and veg
340 g. (3/4 lb.) soba noodles*
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 carrots, julienned or thickly grated
1 batch sesame baked tofu (recipe follows)
3 tbsp. sesame seeds, toasted

Get the sesame baked tofu going (see below).

Blend the dressing ingredients together until smooth, ideally with an immersion blender. Set aside.

Bring a big pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the soba noodles 6 – 8 minutes, until tender with a hint of a bite. Strain them and rinse well with cold water.

Stir the dressing, noodles, green onions, peppers, carrots and sesame-soy tofu together. Mix well. Serve and top each with a liberal coating of sesame seeds.


sesame baked tofu
via Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

2 tbsp. soy sauce*
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 block firm tofu, chopped into cubes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Whisk the soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper together in a medium bowl. Toss the tofu in the dressing. Spread the tofu cubes onto the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes.

*If you are making this meal gluten-free, make sure the soba is 100% buckwheat with no wheat and that your soy sauce doesn't contain wheat.

gluten-free crêpes

Saturday breakfast was suddenly interrupted.

There we were, lazily rolling crêpes with maple syrup, and then maybe with bakeapple syrup or Saskatoon berry syrup. We were piling warm raspberries and blueberries on top. We were cutting the bacon and sailing it through the extra syrup.

And then –

I really try not to let taking photos get in the way of good, hot meals, but I was just struck by the fact that I hadn't shared my gluten-free crêpe recipe with you yet.

And that needed to be rectified before they were all eaten.

It was almost like a commercial break.

I think I had the photos done in about 30 seconds, and we were back to the rolling and syrup pouring.

I'd like to thank my dad for the original recipe, which had wheat flour. Dad would make these crêpes Sundays for lunch out of the cookbooks that contained all his breakfast specialities, like waffles and pancakes and a deep Swedish pancake.

These crêpes are lovely weekend morning food, because they're quick and roll up perfectly with just about any syrup you can think of.  

Now: back to breakfast.

one year ago: korean food in jasper
two years ago: eating out in vancouver, vancouver island and edmonton
three years ago: turnip puff to the rescue!
four years ago: olympic nanaimo bars

gluten-free crêpes*
makes about 15 9-inch crêpes
serves 4

35 g. chickpea and garbanzo bean flour
15 g. sorghum flour
35 g. brown rice flour
35 g. tapioca starch
35 g. potato starch
4 eggs
1 1/3 c. milk
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
butter to cook the crêpes

Heat a cast iron skillet or your crêpe maker to medium or 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk the flours and starches together. Set aside. 

In another bowl, beat the eggs, milk and oil together. Add the flour slowly and blend well. Whisk in the salt and vanilla. 

Melt a pat of butter and spread it around your pan. Ladle in enough batter that you can tip the pan and swirl it to cover (that's about 1/4 cup for my 9-inch skillet). After a minute or two, the crêpe should look cohesive and slightly drier. Wiggle your flipper under and edge and turn it over. Let it cook another 30 seconds to one minute, and remove to a plate to keep warm. 

Repeat with the butter and make your next crêpe. And so on until you're out of batter. Serve.

*If you'd like to make this recipe with regular wheat flour, just substitute 1 cup (140 g.) wheat flour for the gluten-free flours.

chocolate coconut macaroons

I am very picky when it comes to macaroons.

In fact, I often won't even try them because when I do, I find that the coconut is too dry and the whole cookie is too meh to fill the cookie-shaped hole in my stomach.

My poor husband has to eat them all the time because they're often the only gluten-free cookie he can get at a coffee shop or bakery. While I'm happy he has a cookie option, I'm sorry they're macaroons.

Which is why you could now knock me over with a feather, because all I can think about is when I can reasonably make another batch of these macaroons. I even bought an extra can of condensed milk and two bags of flaked coconut at the grocery store last weekend so that I'd be ready.

It all started when my friends Corey and Gina brought some over for a little party celebrating Scott's 40th. I didn't get to try any that night, but I stashed a few before I sent them home. After all, I had never eaten anything Corey baked that wasn't amazing.

The next morning, I thought I'd try one. It was so good that I ate another.

That was before noon. I ate another one right after lunch and then cut myself off.

The macaroons were fudgy and intensely chocolate-y. In fact, it was almost like eating a really good chocolate that was chewy and the size of cookie. You can see why I fell hard.

I begged Corey for the recipe and made them as soon as I could. So should you.

This is a macaroon I can whole-heartedly recommend. I would never feel sorry for anyone who had to eat this macaroon.

In fact, I would ask him to share it.

P.S. It's dollop of cream's four-year anniversary! I am going to make more macaroons to celebrate.

one year ago: chocolate ginger cookies and dutch babies
two years ago: gumdrop cake
three years ago: whisky marmalade and bacon-wrapped dates with almonds and olives
four years ago: muesli, lemon loaf and olympic nanaimo bars

chocolate coconut macaroons
adapted from diana rattray
bakes about 30 cookies

1 can (398 g./14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 c. (72 g./2.5 oz.) cocoa powder
2 tbsp. vegetable shortening
1/4 tsp. salt
2 2/3 c. (227 g./8 oz.) flaked coconut*
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a handful of chocolate chips to top the cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Stir condensed milk, cocoa, shortening and salt together in the top of a double boiler, or bowl suspended over boiling water. Stir often until it's all melted together. Take it off the heat.

Mix the coconut and vanilla in well.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough about 2.5 cm or 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Press about 3 chocolate chips onto the top of each cookie.

Bake for about 12 – 14 minutes, until the cookies look set. Let cool on a wire rack.

*I'm really into flaked coconut right now because I like the texture so much better than shredded coconut. But I'm sure shredded would also work. Flaked should be right next to the shredded at your grocery store.

nuts and bolts

Well, I think you know how I feel about retro recipes.*

So how about some nuts and bolts?

My mother-in-law made a big batch of these at Christmas and every time she put a bowl out, we'd dip in and keep coming back until, in very short order, the bowl was completely empty.

I don't think I should even contemplate how many I ate on our day trip down to Seattle . . . but let me tell you, they are a perfect car snack. They're not messy, but they're super tasty and you've got at least two food groups with all the cereals and peanuts.

My mother-in-law made them gluten-free and my husband was so pleased that I knew I'd have to repeat them again soon at home.

And you know what?

They're a cinch. Basically, just mix a bunch of cereal with some oil and spices and bake.

I couldn't resist sampling a few before they went in the oven and they were darn good, but what happened in the oven was magical. The bolts slowly crisped and transformed themselves from separate cereals into one golden, cohesive snack mix.

I know you might be skipping down to the recipe now and might be astonished by the amount of oil called for . . .

What can I say?

This is a retro snack. I actually cut the oil from two cups to one and a half and it still tasted great. And this recipe makes a tonne of nuts and bolts (think: two of your biggest Tupperware containers overflowing).

So I don't think there's very much oil per serving. And the oil is, I truly believe, essential to create that lovely, golden, crisp finish.

Just try it. All the cool retro kids are doing it.

* That would be very, very positive.

one year ago: pan de yuca (colombian tapioca cheese buns), carrot and fennel soup
two years ago: tomato sauce with onion and butter, lemon syllabub
three years ago: naomi's granola, rosemary gruyère baked eggs

nuts and bolts
this makes a lot of nuts and bolts – enough to fill an industrial-size cookie sheet
all of these cereals – Chex, Cheerios and pretzels – are available gluten-free  

1/2 – 3/4 box Chex*
1 box Cheerios
1 bag pretzels
1 1/2 c. neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 can roasted, salted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the cereals onto an industrial-size cookie sheet, or even two if you don't like nuts and bolts escaping onto the counter as you carefully mix them.

Whisk the oil with the Worcestershire sauce, celery salt and garlic powder. Alternately pour and mix them with the cereal until it's all mixed in. Don't worry if some spices are hanging out at the bottom of the bowl. Just scrape them out and put them on the cereal. This is a very forgiving recipe.

Stir every 15 minutes or so and bake for a total of two hours. When cool, toss with peanuts and eat.

*I used three-quarters of a 365 g. box because I love Chex. But the original recipe called for half a box.